Crash Landing
by hippiechick2112
Summary: The first part of a series of four stories, "Prelude to Danger". Hogan is shot down by the Germans, but is surprised, when he is sent to Stalag 13, that there are more than what he anticipated.
1. Ammo Dump: Completed

**Crash Landing**

**Note and Disclaimer:**** I'll be saying this every time, even in my editing stages on the stories. I don't own the characters to ****Hogan's Heroes****. I would like to thank those who have created this series. However, the characters I have created in this series (e.g. Colonel Michalovich) belong to me, so if you want to use them in any story you wish to write, please email me with permission first. Thank you!**

* * *

"Roger that, London…I read you well and clear." Colonel Robert Hogan, surveying the Earth below him, flew his plane over the final miles of the English Channel, and over France, intent to bomb the latest ammo dump that the Underground had assigned his unit to do.

Hogan clicked his radio back on after his brief message – as if to dispel the unease of having the danger of German spies listening to him – to make sure that London heard him correctly and continued his mission when he knew he was in the clear. Germany was already in sight and his target was miles away at that point – a few minutes' time – so General Milton, Hogan's superior, needed to be reassured. He stood on the other side of the radio in London, intent on listening to the man who saved his life and his men's lives so many times before.

"I can see it coming up ahead," Hogan finally said to his superior on the other end quickly. "We know the assignment and how important it is. Papa Bear, over and out."

The latest destination that needed to be surveyed and bombed – Hamburg's main ammo dump – was already marked on the map that his partner and aide from London, Lieutenant Reginald Douglas of the R.A.F., held behind him. The Lieutenant himself was also watching the Allied planes behind them, a formation of four planes guarding their commanding officer's tail, and sighed with boredom as he, too, looked below at the same landscape he had been seeing for many missions.

"How long is it until we reach the ammo dump?" Hogan asked the aide, his eyes kept strictly on the scene before him and sometimes behind them. He didn't even look back at Douglas, especially after his radio call to London.

Douglas sighed again, this time in frustration and not boredom. _This must be the millionth time he's asked me that in the last few minutes_, he thought. _Hell, he's tryin' to think about something else other than his demandin' lady so that he can concentrate. Damn, that bleedin' woman could change her mind anytime and swing her moods madly. It'll drive anyone bloody crazy. I can understand it._

Hogan heard Douglas ruffle open the map open again, checking the coordinates and forgetting about the "crazy woman" that visited his commanding officer for a while when they were still stationed in London.

"We're 'bout four miles from Hamburg now, Colonel Hogan," the native Briton answered. "We need to ready the bombs."

"Steady them then," Hogan replied, adjusting his goggles again, keeping a hand on the controls. "The Underground wants this one done today before the Germans send some of it to the Front Lines tonight." He paused. "I don't think the Eastern Front wouldn't need it, though."

"Too cold there, Sir," Douglas shook his head at the thought of the cold Front Lines, readying to release their deadly weapons. "Russians have already thawed from the winter, so they say. Thank God for them it's June and not the dead of winter anymore, although, and excuse me for this, Sir, but they could all share their secrets in keeping warm. Jolly 'ld England is even cold as bleedin' hell."

"Perhaps it's the vodka?" Hogan suggested with a laugh, veering his craft more to the left as he looked down his window quickly. "They drink so much, always are numb, and never share." He laughed again, picking up his radio. "This is Colonel Hogan. The target is within sight. Man your stations. I repeat, man your stations. The target is in sight."

After reassurances were said over the radio from the other pilots one by one, Hogan smiled, not only for his men, but also for another mission well done.

"Drop them, Douglas," Hogan then said, sighing, seeing the ammo dump below them. He, too, was bored somewhat and wished for the mission to be done. He was also thinking more of a hot shower at the new base in Southampton than anything else at the moment and could not wait until he landed back in England.

_Much as I love these missions, girls and showers need to be part of _some_ bargain here. Even Colonel Michalovich can be welcomed, if she would shut her mouth and stop the talk about death and war. It's too morbid._ He would never think of his partner by her first name anymore. She was more of a colleague in war than a partner.

The whiz of the bombs, when released by Douglas and the other men, satisfied Hogan, even to distract him, once more, from the last events on his last night in London before transferring. A perfect set of shots, which was indicated through the explosions that his company made, had Hogan laughing.

"Let's head back to base, Douglas," was what Douglas heard as Hogan steered from the site and back towards France and the Channel and then, to England. "General Milton will be pleased with today's events. We just saved some men some trouble. Gotta thank the Underground for finding this."

"Yes, Sir," the aide answered, smiling too. "It was a good job we did, Sir."

_It's been a good day indeed_, Douglas then thought. _My little lady wife will be there when I get back. And I bet the Colonel would like someone to talk to as well._


	2. Fight and Flight

Hogan didn't think that his company would be bothered by the German, especially seeing as how the mission was secret. At the same time, though, he never thought that he was invincible and that he couldn't be caught by the enemy – indeed, that was asking for trouble – but more that he had been covered from behind on every mission. After all, he had been on over fifty missions and knew every formation to the letter, every motion needed to be successful. He did his work and did it well. His superiors, especially his personal nagger ("Colonel Michalovich…always bitchy," Douglas would say out of earshot after she visited), urged him to stop and retire, but Hogan didn't bother to listen.

_The Germans will never catch me, dead or alive, with the help I have_, Hogan would think at those times. But when he was finally caught coming back from the scene of a crime, detecting a German plane behind him as his company fought, he found that terror filled him more than surprise, since the Germans had not been able to catch up with him and his company yet.

Everything had seemed so surreal, as if the circumstances were not real life. Douglas' words didn't seem to register with Hogan as they started to head back from Hamburg until the Lieutenant was practically next to his ear, leaning forward without a belt on, screaming. Hogan had been oblivious with joy after the ammo dump was bombed, but soon turned to his survival: tactics that had served him well.

"Sir, the bloody Krauts are still behind us!" Douglas yelled fruitlessly as Hogan fired at some German planes, succeeding in taking down two and turning around to get another one. "Colonel, head back quicker, they're behind us still and there's more than we can handle!"

"What?" Hogan still quite didn't register the words in his mind – so preoccupied he was in getting back to England alive with his men – until he heard the gunfire around him and had smoke fill his nostrils. Turning his head this way and that, Hogan saw some of his men escape the fight, but one of his men's planes in total flames, heading towards the ground in a hellish dive to death.

Suddenly, though, Hogan's own plane – as he shot down another German plane – started to tip downwards towards the Earth, so he tried his hardest to keep the craft in the air, realizing the effort. None of the controls obeyed him. The radio was dead and nobody was on the other lines after static and garbled voices asked questions that none of the men n the plane could comprehend.

"Dammit, they got us," Douglas said with regret. _Damn, my wife will 'ave to wait for me_, he thought as he yelled next at Hogan, "We need to bail out, Sir. Sir! Colonel, did you hear me? We need to get out of here before the Krauts come back and finish the job! If we're lucky, we'll be alive."

"I hear you, Douglas," Hogan answered hurriedly as he strapped on his parachute straps quickly, letting go of the controls finally and giving the plane permission to ride to the ground. "I guess our old Hawker was just another easy target for the Krauts. Now, get ready to jump when I eject the top. On the count of three, one –"

Hogan counted down and pressed the button to allow them out, but it didn't work. The men were trapped in the plane.

"Damn, damn, damn!" Hogan yelled, banging on the control board. "We can't get out!"

Douglas froze, his upward motion suspended as he thought to have gotten out of the plane. He himself went paranoid with fear, cold sweat going down his back. _If we can't get out of the plane, we will be dead soon. I'm panicking, but the Colonel seems calm for someone about to die. I don't know his prob'em, but hell, he needs to do somethin'._

The aide sat back down in his seat and then started to pick up tools at his feet, _anything_, that would jack the top of the plane. He was desperate to get out of the plane and back to England. That much was certain to Hogan as he watched the aide, turning back briefly to see if anything had been coming behind him. He doubted it, but it was a possibility with the Germans.

"Dammit, Sir," Douglas yelled as nothing worked. "We need to live today! I don't wanna be a meal for the Krauts today!"

Finding a screwdriver in a toolset under Hogan's seat, Douglas furiously worked at the glass, half-tempted to punch all the panes out. _Come on, come on, come on, you damned blasted thing! Break or somethin'!_

Hogan turned around quickly, also starting to try to get the plane to open, when he saw a plane's shadow and saw, through the glass, the man behind the controls. An older man, perhaps a General promoted because the First World War didn't help him, controlled their destiny. His thumbs posed themselves on the guns, attempting to kill the person in the back, but not its pilot.

Hogan noticed the action as he punctured a pane in the glass. _He knows who I am. He knows what importance I hold. The others didn't matter because it's only me that he wants. I'm the commanding officer._ The man behind the controls was about to shoot, but then stopped.

_He has second thoughts_.

The German pilot took control of the plane, but not its guns. He did continue to fly down with the men, though, at a distance.

Douglas had no luck in breaking out using his tools. Seeing that Hogan had one window pane opened, he started screaming obscenities without meaning disrespect to his commanding officer. Then, he took off in anger and punched more of the glass panes with his bare hands, throwing the screwdriver aside.

"Sir!" he said after stringing stronger words in a single sentence, blood trialing down his right hand. "Got it all!"

Hitting almost ten thousand feet in the air before crashing, Douglas managed to find the plane's latch outside and opened some of the top as he and Hogan prepared to jump out.

"Are you ready?" Douglas yelled at Hogan as he opened the latch all the way.

Hogan grinned as the air started to suck the two men out: being alive, a sense of giddy freedom. "Nice work, Lieutenant," he yelled back, praising his right-hand man. "I'm ready when you are."

"Ok, then," Douglas replied with a matching grin as he prepared to jump with Hogan. "One, two, three –"

* * *

**The plane I had the two flying was called a Hawk Hurricane. The first flights by the R.A.F. in 1935, it was a fighter bomber that was actually feared by the German aviators. Often used for sinking Axis ships and crossing the English Channel for other missions, the Hawk Hurricane was used by both the English and the Canadians (both had also made their own versions of the plane). It was also a very stable plane and allowed the pilot to work easily.**


	3. The Welcoming Committee

Hogan jumped out with Douglas away from the plane, feeling cold air hit his face. He pushed off from his seat, as if jumping into a pool of deep water, and somersaulted into the air, righting himself to land on his feet as he completed his acrobatic turn. His parachute let out as soon as he pulled its string (just in time) before his plane sucked him back in as it continued to crash to the ground.

The German plane behind them continued to stalk them without shooting, intent of capturing the Allied men, but probably saw the men jump from their plane. Before it could reach the point where it could not get back up again, the plane inched back up, joining with a formation above. The German planes flew over the Allied men, going back to their own lines, most likely, since they could no longer follow their Allied enemies.

"That was a close call," Hogan said randomly. He clung to his parachute with strength, not intent on letting go anytime soon. He didn't want to think about his close call with death, but how to survive in Germany and get back to England if they were not captured by the Germans and made prisoners.

_Dammit, if SHE found out about it, I would NEVER hear the end of it. Douglas did a good job._

"Yes, Sir," Douglas answered as he drifted down towards Hogan, being at level with his commanding officer. He playfully punched Hogan and laughed. "All we need to do is find our way out of Germany."

Hogan gulped. "It shouldn't be so bad." He didn't want to be reminded of the effort. "France is over the border a few miles, I should think, and the Underground has stations everywhere around here. We should be fine if we know where we are. Then, we could figure out where to go from there."

It was quiet for a while afterward. The ground was still a far away destination. Then, from Douglas: "Bloody hell, Colonel Hogan, it's gonna be hard enough to get out of here. Who _can_ do trust here? You can't just tell them you're Papa Bear anywhere unless you know that they're Underground people or people from our side. You'll be bloody shot before you know it or sent to Berlin and _then_ executed."

"I'm aware, Douglas," Hogan almost growled, remembering. "The local Underground units have evacuated Hamburg because of the ammo dump bombing, but we're not in town I think, since we flew miles from it, so we have to figure out where the hell we are. They –"

"Sir, Krauts are below!" Douglas interrupted Hogan, pointing below. "Black and grey uniforms, Sir!"

"Gestapo and S.S.," Hogan said plainly, without emotion, knowing what it all meant.

All feeling had been drained out of Hogan when he noticed the black and grey uniforms of the S.S. and Gestapo, but he knew that he had to keep his cool. _This is serious if the Gestapo and S.S. are here. What did we do to attract their attention, other than bomb an ammo dump? _A pause in his thoughts. _The Germans must have radioed them and told them about us or they picked up something from our signals._

"What are the orders, Sir?" Douglas asked. He didn't know what else to do but listen to his commanding officer. He was too scared of the men below to make a decision of his own, so he could have Hogan do that for him, unless he could find the courage…the strength…to get out of Germany. In his fear, Douglas was stiff and all he could do is just follow orders and decide whether he liked them or not later. He was desperate enough to get back to his wife and young child. His fear even might motivate him to escape, even if Hogan said not to yet.

"The duty of every officer is to escape back to his native country," Hogan reported to him, as if Douglas was the commanding officer, something always repeated from so many lectures. "Don't make a fast move on these people just yet, I say. Take your time. Find the best route, but think it out before you run. They have weapons. We don't. Remember, we left them in the plane and that's gone."

"Well done, Sir," Douglas only replied as the two finally reached the ground, strength of mind and body returning to him quickly.

Douglas, of course, had other plans within a few seconds and had no intention, in a final quick decision, to obey his commanding officer, despite his fear of death from the Germans…and every man's fear in the military to face a court martial when they don't obey orders. _I have a wife and child to support. I can't stay here in Germany and do it! I'll be damned to hell if I tried!_

However, before the two men could do anything, they resigned to the forces around them as they hit the ground (_I can't run just yet_, Douglas thought). The Gestapo and S.S. surrounded them in a circle, making sure that both didn't move. Hogan noted the guns pointed at them from every direction and raised his hands in surrender.

"You are arrested in the name of Hitler, our Führer, and of his Third Reich!" A Colonel said to them, indicating that the Allied men – now prisoners of war – were under guard and going to be under lock and key. "Obey and it'll be easy for you in the future."

"Indeed," a Major said. His black uniform said he was Gestapo and his haughty response after the Colonel said he thought himself more important than his commanding officer. "If you move, heads will roll!"

A few men snickered at the phrase (Hogan guessed that the Major said it often enough to many people, especially his inferiors and other prisoners), but went back into attention as the new prisoners kept their arms up in surrender. They offered no resistance and it was strange to the Germans, Hogan figured out quickly as the few that sobered up smiled at the ease of the new prisoners. Most had tried to run off and were killed, he knew. He and Douglas weren't giving them a fight.

"Major Hochstetter, you will be charge of these prisoners," the Colonel finally said, his decision final as the Major displayed such obvious passion in bringing the prisoners to their justice system. "Bring them to Stalag 13, where Klink is. His is newly-formed and needs more prisoners. The other stalags are full to the brim." The Colonel paused before giving his last order. "Lastly, Major Hochstetter, be…_careful_ with them. Shoot them if they try to escape."

"With pleasure," Major Hochstetter replied with some relish. "Interrogation will begin at Stalag 13."

"Good." The commanding officer then shook his head, leaving the scene. His car was nearby, as both Allies noticed, and it drove off as quickly as they were captured.

Douglas, in the meantime, had his chance to run and he saw it when the German commanding officer was leaving, a cloud of smoke rising from his car. With all of the attention on the Colonel, a chance at escape was good. His hiding places were numerous – trees and a farmhouse dotted the fields they landed in, the ammo dump possibly a few miles away smoldering in flames – and the Gestapo and S.S. looked stupid enough to watch him run.

_Bloody hell, they look pretty enough to stand there and look presentable. They can't do anythin' to me, even with those weapons pointed at us._

Hogan saw the glean in his aide's eyes before Douglas could take off.

"Don't do it," Hogan warned quietly as he, too, saw the slim opportunity, looking into his aide's bright eyes again. He knew the man to be spontaneous and stupid sometimes. Douglas was a dedicated family man. His loyalties meant a lot to him, but sometimes, he was dense.

"Don't do it, Douglas. You heard their orders." Hogan was whispering harshly, desperately trying his hardest to keep his man from running into danger.

"I can't stand here and let my family starve, Colonel," Douglas replied, ready to bolt, but afraid that the Germans could hear them both. "They need me more than ever before. They need money."

Douglas then saluted Hogan as the guards continued watch their commanding officer and then talk to Major Hochstetter (they paid almost no heed to their new prisoners, seeing how easily they surrendered earlier). "It's nice knowing you, Sir."

"You know what I said," Hogan warned again. He, too, disliked his orders being disobeyed. It was rare that men did that to him, but it annoyed him nonetheless. However, the same could be said about _his_ superior officers. Hogan did strategize better than them sometimes and disobeyed orders when it didn't make sense to him if he could get away with it…which was rare.

The response was what Hogan expected. "Yes, Sir, I know what you said. And bloody hell, Colonel, I need to go. I can't stay in Germany for the rest of this war. I'm needed terribly."

As a small space was allowed as the Germans talked to each other and relaxed a little (listening to Hochstetter give out more orders), Douglas took an opportunity to run and he took it fast. His captors took notice of his leaving (others grabbing Hogan before he left as well) just as Hochstetter pointed it out to them and yelled at Douglas to stop before they shoot.

Hogan shook his head. _Douglas was lucky that he got one warning…_

Douglas, of course, had not listened to all reason and continued to head for the farm nearby the landing site (he could skip behind their crashed plane behind the farmhouse and be scot-free). Hogan gulped – the grip on his jacket tighter – as the Gestapo and S.S. moved aside for Hochstetter as the small man screamed for attention and then room for his action.

"This is how you solve the problem," Hochstetter yelled, sighing at the incompetence of his men. Taking out his gun and taking aim, Hochstetter fired and aimed true. Before Douglas could go far and hide behind their plane, he collapsed, a bullet lodged in his head. The man was obviously dead.

Hogan winced. Tears even threatened him, but he stopped as he heard a voice behind him. "Good work, Major," the Colonel at the vehicle yelled to the group as the car came back to them before taking off again. "Take the other prisoner to Stalag 13. Let's see how well he'll work with Colonel Klink."

Hochstetter snorted. "He hasn't had any escapes yet. But I think this Colonel might break Klink's record, knowing him." To the Gestapo and S.S. guards, he added, "Take the prisoner away to the truck. Make sure to restrain him. We don't want another escape, do _we_?"

The guards were obviously scared of Hochstetter and obeyed his orders without question, muttering reassurances that it wouldn't happen again. In turn, they hustled Hogan into a nearby truck. Handcuffed behind his back and behaving for the Germans, Hogan feared Hochstetter, too, but knew that the best way to overcome it was to outwit the man. He saw what they did to Douglas. They could easily do that to him, even after the initial interrogation.

_And the last thing I need is to be dead_, Hogan thought as the guards led him to the truck. Separating according to their division, several Gestapo guards stayed with Hogan.

"Hey, hey, I'm not going anywhere," Hogan said as he climbed into the vehicle, trying to keep his jokester side out (he didn't even bother with the Geneva Convention ethic codes and what they said to do when captured). "I can't even take out a spoon and dig a tunnel anywhere. It'll take a neat magic trick to complete that."

One young guard, who sat next to Hogan as he was seated on the truck, struck him in the stomach with the butt of his rifle, telling him words in German that Hogan could not understand.

_Serves me right for not learning German_, Hogan thought as his head went to his stomach. _Gotta learn when to shut up, too._


	4. Arrival

Stalag 13 was in sight a few days later. For about four or five days (nobody had bothered to tell him what day it was and how much time passed), Hogan had traveled from truck to truck, always with the Gestapo and especially under the eyes of Hochstetter and his guards (who have not abused him in any way because of his lack of jokes nor have they responded to any of his rational questions). Their arrival at the camp, outside of the town of Hammelburg in western Germany, was not very noteworthy.

Hogan only noticed from his seat at the back of the truck that Stalag 13 was an average P.O.W. camp. Because it was nighttime, Hogan saw spotlights that checked for escaping prisoners. Guards were always in the tower, an orderly fashion to the way that they switched positions when relieving the previous guard's post. The fence was high and wired, but there was a chance to escape.

_Hopefully, the electricity isn't on_, Hogan thought as he saw the fence. _It'll be a walk in the park to get out of here._

The truck stopped in front of an office – the Kommandant's, Klink. Hogan thought quickly as his final destination came into full view. _All I have to do is learn how they change the guards and get out of here. Maybe the men here will help. They are Allies, after all. They said this place has no escapes yet. We can all tag-team and get the hell out of Germany._

"Come on, Colonel, get out!" one of the Gestapo guards said in English, nudging Hogan with his rifle as he came up to him. "We're here in hell."

"Where's the bar and golf course?" Hogan joked, but the words went over their heads. The guards exchanged baffled looks and shrugged their shoulders, pulling Hogan out of the truck. They wanted to get rid of the prisoner as soon as possible and get Hogan into the Kommandant's hands. _Then_, he'll be Stalag 13's responsibility.

His hands still in handcuffs, Hogan sought to keep his balance and succeed with the help of one of the guards at the camp as he jumped out. Big, blundering and older than most of the guards around him, this one had a particular fondness to the prisoners and Hogan noticed this immediately in the guard's blue eyes. It even gave him an idea as the guard held the Colonel up and straightened him out, keeping him standing.

_This one might be inclined to look the other way. He might help me escape Germany._

The guard continued to steady Hogan by his shoulders and motioned to the driver in front of him how to get out of the camp.

"Here, here, over HERE!" the guard yelled, almost in Hogan's ears, as he directed the truck out. The guard motioned the truck's driver to move backwards, holding Hogan at the same time. Then, the guard had the driver pivot to right the vehicle.

"Talented, aren't we?" Hogan asked, still shooting out one-liners.

"Just doing my DUTY," the guard replied, finally getting the truck out of the front of the Kommandant's office. Telling the driver in German to head out the gate (Hogan figured it out the way the guard was pointing at the Main Gate), the guard picked Hogan up single-handedly and got him upright again as Hogan began to tip backwards from the effort of watching his transport leave, introducing himself.

"I am Sergeant Schultz," the guard said, to introduce himself. "I am Sergeant of the Guards."

"Hogan, Robert E.," Hogan then replied automatically, as if by rote. "Colonel, 0876707."

"Save it for the Kommandant," Hochstetter interjected with an irritated tone, coming up from behind Hogan: one of two Gestapo men that had stayed.

Hogan had forgotten that Hochstetter and one of his guards had stayed with their new prisoner and were intent on interrogating him before setting him loose within the camp confines.

"We can tell you…already know about the Geneva Convention, Colonel Hogan." Hochstetter smiled.

"Hogan, Robert E., Colonel, 0876707," Hogan repeated. His time for jokes was obviously over.

_I already got into trouble for saying something and everything else goes over their heads. Might as well stick with the Geneva Convention. Major Hochstetter seems familiar with it, as we all are, but is not interested in it. He's annoyed with it._

"Get him into Klink's office, Schultz," Hochstetter then ordered. "Let's see if Colonel Hogan will give us any information."

"_Ja_, Herr Major," Schultz answered, turning Hogan around. "Come on," he added, pushing Hogan forward. "You have to see the KOMMANDANT."

"Hogan, Robert E., Colonel, 0876707." _I need to annoy them enough with it so that they can't ask me any more questions._

"SHUT UP, Colonel Hogan," Hochstetter yelled, already annoyed at how difficult the prisoner had become suddenly. "You will answer our questions without your name, rank and serial number. We already know them!"

_Not on my watch_, Hogan thought as he was herded inside the office by Hochstetter and Schultz.


	5. Senior POW Officer

It had taken a week of questioning and staying in what the Germans had called "The Cooler", but Hogan was finally set free within the camp when Hochstetter (and the Kommandant, Klink) had received no answers from him about his activities before and when he was captured. Their information, based on just knowing that he bombed the ammo dump the week before, had not been enough to keep him in the cooler for long, so Hogan was then deemed the senior P.O.W. Officer of the camp by Klink and let go within the camp.

Besides which, the enlisted men already there were becoming restless. When they had heard that an officer had been assigned to Stalag 13, they had been adamant about having him out of the cooler and commanding them, even giving up the single room in Barracks 2. They agreed upon it immediately, despite their arguments and fights, that Hogan was needed outside of his prison and be ready to command them.

Already, before Hogan had arrived, bickering was constant in the camp and there was no control of the men. There wasn't even anyone to depend on when things were going wrong such as missing mail and packages or abuse from the guards. An officer would help them in being a sort of mediator, especially one that already bargained for their privileges to the Recreational Hall back upon hearing on it when Klink asked him about the men he commanded before being captured.

Hogan had quickly learned that someone, such as himself, could turn any conversation into one that would confuse Klink and this got him what he wanted anytime he wanted except when he wanted to be civil with the Kommandant. When Klink mentioned to him about the men and their unruly behavior, Hogan told Klink about his men, got the Kommandant interested instead of confused, and somehow managed to get privileges back for the Recreation Hall. The men outside of the office were overjoyed.

"They're waiting for you," Hilde, one of the secretaries for Klink, said to Hogan after Klink had yelled at them to stop kissing. Hogan was just been released from Hochstetter's last interrogation and Klink's rants about the enlisted prisoners in camp and appointment he had given to Hogan.

Hogan had, immediately, found Hilde attractive and was flirting with her in no time in the moments after being freed. Klink caught him, a few minutes later, kissing her at his office doorway as Hochstetter was lecturing Klink after Hogan's interrogation. Afterward, they decided to fight when Klink opened the door every time. Hilde would usually win, as Hogan decreed.

"That's no surprise," Hogan said, rubbing his wrists as he wiggled toward Hilde for another kiss, motioning to her about his wrists. The handcuffs stayed on for the week and food was fed to him by none other than Schultz, since he couldn't feed himself.

"I heard them fighting outside of the cooler," Hogan even added, thinking selflessly for once. Klink even had got a few of them in there when I was stayed. They still fought, but made peace when I talked with them through the wall cracks. I think Klink heard about it and decided to make me senior officer then and there."

"So I heard," Hilde replied – large eyelashes blinking – as Hochstetter came out of Klink's office, saluting absentmindedly to the secretary for some odd reason before closing the outer office's door behind him. They heard a car start behind them and the Main Gate opened.

Hilde sighed with relief and, surprising Hogan (who still wanted his kiss), then went to the door of Klink's office and put her ear to it. Then, satisfied that Klink wasn't going to come out, Hilde came back to Hogan and put her arms around him. "Do you want some potage, Papa Bear?" she asked softly.

Hogan looked at her, suspicious. _How does she know that?_ It was London's code to contact him without trouble. He was about to wonder when she said, as if she knew his thoughts, "There is no time. You have an urgent message from London."

"How do you know?" Hogan asked cautiously, repeating his thoughts. "How do I know you're with us? How do I know you're one of them?"

"You're assigned to Barracks 2," Hilde replied quickly as she heard Klink rustle some papers inside his office. "There are men there who are supposed to help you. Their names are Louis LeBeau, Peter Newkirk, James Kinchloe and Andrew Carter. They were regular airmen, just as yourself, before they were captured. They were assigned here a few months ago and were recruited."

"Recruited? For what?" Hogan asked. He thought about trusting the secretary (he could with a kiss like hers), but had no information…no evidence…to say whether he should or not.

"The Underground here in Hammelburg has established a tunnel system here at Stalag 13 after some other prisoners dug some tunnels," Hilde explained faster in a hushed voice as Klink was up and about in his office. "There is a tree stump outside of the camp that leads the prisoners out. The radio was planted there by Nimrod himself. London has the frequency –"

"Listen, Hilde," Hogan began as he heard Klink settle down again at his desk. "I'll be senior P.O.W. officer here. I'll stick up for the prisoners because they need someone to. But I don't believe that there is a radio and tunnel system here. It's not possible. I mean, we're in a prisoner of war camp in the middle of Germany. It's the middle of _nowhere_." Hogan shook his head, to show how believable Hilde was.

"If someone showed you…" Hilde began and then trailed, still seeing the disbelief on the Colonel's face.

"Then I might look into it," Hogan finished for her. He wasn't so sure if he would or not, though. He had already resigned himself to prison life and was easily ready to retire into a quiet life until the tanks came to liberate him and the other Allied men. He wasn't about to get into anymore trouble with the Germans.

_Working with the Underground and being free was one thing, but to be a prisoner of war and to work with London was another._

"Well," Hilde said, defeated as she let go of Hogan, "read this piece of mail you got already. I'm sure you'll be assured that you'll be fine here. If you're interested, please come back and talk with me."

Hogan took the envelope that Hilde took from her desk drawer. Taken from a large pile of papers in the drawer, the mail was light and the message seemed short, but not urgent enough for Hogan to consider until later. However, it looked as if it was sitting there, waiting for Hogan. It was like a prop: sitting there, ready to use, whenever the stage was set.

"I'm sure." Hogan shook his head, thinking more about Hilde's kisses as he walked out of the office, without a goodbye. He wasn't even sure if he would return to see her or not.

_Then again…she might be telling me something. Who the hell knows?_


	6. General Milton's Letter

Hogan was assigned in a separate office space/quarters in Barracks 2, which was located directly across from Klink's office. Immediately getting there after his meeting with Hilde, the men mentioned – LeBeau, Newkirk, Kinchloe and Carter – had already introduced themselves when he arrived and said that if he needed anything, he should ask. They all then thanked Hogan for his help with the Recreational Hall, one of them reminding him of roll call in a few hours.

Hogan smiled and then reassured them that he would and shut the door to his quarters, forgetting about roll call in prison camps.

Observing his new room and still holding his single piece of mail, Hogan studied his new surroundings. The room was very dusty and had, obviously, not been inhabited yet or had not had been in a long time. A footlocker sat at the head of his bunk (which could sleep two people, top and bottom) and was open, holding nothing but his spare uniform from London, as Hogan came to Germany with his airman's suit and parachute. The bare essentials that a man needed were scattered across the room – razors, pencils, paper, shaving gel, soap, etc. – and a Red Cross was on the desk with his name on it.

_It was probably Schultz_, Hogan thought happily. _He's been good about things so far. He makes sure I had everything and was fed and had water. He also doesn't like to see anything and knows nothing, as he's told Hochstetter and Kink many times this week. He might help me. He hates the war. I can tell._

Jumping on the top bunk to his right, Hogan settled upon his pillow, his elbows sticking out as he opened the mail Hilde gave him. He then laid on his back, surprised to see a letter from General Milton, his superior officer, (in his own handwriting, no less, and with a signature at the bottom), who had been commanding divisions not only in the air corps, but also with the spying rings in and out of Germany. Hogan read on, with interest, and then called the four men back to his quarters. He had to ask them to radio London and ask what should be done.

_Hilde was right after all_, Hogan thought as he tucked his message under his pillow, ready to burn it whenever he could. _I can be their commanding officer in all ways and help London. I can be free after all._

Work had to be done, so Hogan got on the ball.

_Saturday, June 13, 1942_

_To Colonel Robert E. Hogan, senior P.O.W. officer of Stalag 13 and former commander of the 504__th__ Bomber Squadron of the United States Army Air Force: greetings and many welcomes to prisoner of war life. You might find life here less comforting than in London or in Southampton, but it would be most unfair to not tell you about Stalag 13 and its interesting history. The men here, I can reassure you, are loyal and have been checked thoroughly, as you have been when you agreed to spy for us a few months before._

_Hogan, this is important. As commanding officer of these prisoners most likely, it is your duty to continue the work that you had started. We took great pains to make this happen and to make sure that we didn't lose you so easily. We arranged it so that you could be at Stalag 13, in case you were captured._

_Many other replacements were in line if you were careful enough or were sent home to the States. And, well, Colonel Hogan, I am asking you as a friend…_ordering_ you, more like, as your commanding officer…to take control of this operation._

_You don't know its history, so let me explain about it first, very quickly: the camp itself was built before the war started, as Stalag 13 had been built originally as a camp for Jews before they were shipped elsewhere or to the coast, if they could escape (some people they befriended had a system and were able to spirit them out). The Nazi Resistance within the camp took advantage of their freedoms – which included walking freely outside the fence line sometimes and keeping gardens – and started to build a large tunnel system as everybody within the camp met each week. The guards let them have visitors any night, so they were able to recruit more people in the Resistance, even people who were not Jewish. They only wanted people interested in destroying Hitler's Germany._

_Each member within and outside the camp contributed to its construction and brought supplies, like torches and oil, because they were frightened that they would not see their homes again. Just in case, they had an escape route. Their friends outside were willing to risk their lives for them even as the rules became stricter and the Nazi guards became more brutal. Lives were lost, Hogan, and these people suddenly became frightened._

_Eventually, a radio was installed and rebuilt constantly because of the cave-ins (war was coming, remember). The original radioman (as well as Nimrod), already living in London as I write this, told us about the camp's secrets and radioed that the Nazi Resistance rested there as well, hiding more and more as the Germans became smarter about what some of them were doing._

_We took advantage of it when we could (or when somebody could radio us when nobody was watching the prisoners), keeping track of German activity until the camp was cleared for prisoners of war. Since then, we've made sure that one man – already a prisoner there and freed – became a guard there and checked every prisoner, telling them about the secrets of the tunnels and radio if they were true to the cause._

_As prisoners filtered though Stalag 13, we made sure to send more men and women there to ensure us that all of the men were Allied prisoners if our guard could not tell. From there, when we were sure we had Allied prisoners, we did a background check on each of the men and gave them assignments according to their skills. Four men have been assigned to help you specifically, but the whole camp is ready to help you, as well._

_Sergeant Kinchloe, who was capture earlier this year in the Netherlands, has proved to be an able radioman. Sergeant Carter, captured when he and his commanding officer had been shot down over Hammelburg, has knowledge of explosions and demolitions. Corporal LeBeau, your gourmet chef, was captured when it was seen that he was working against the Germans in France (I envy you, Hogan!) is friendly with the dogs at Stalag 13 and Oscar Schnitzer,_ _the veterinarian who comes in every week to change the dogs. Corporal Newkirk, a former traveling circus man and local thief captured in Berlin on a secret mission from us (indeed, he made the excuse to the Gestapo that he was going to steal Hitler's wallet when they caught him!), is also a perfect actor and can mimic any voice. These men, who have proven their loyalty to the Allies cause, will serve you well._

_You're a good man, Hogan. You're able to command the men and gain their respect quickly. You're also resourceful, clever and quick-thinking and one of the best personnel we have, one who does better on our side than Germany's. This is why we need you still. Your mission is never done until the tanks roll into Stalag 13 and liberate the men._

_Your debts will be repaid, remember? I said that to you when you left for Southampton last month. I mean to keep my promises, no matter what rank we are to each other. Hogan…Robert, I should say, shouldn't I, since we _are_ friends?…your men are there for you as I am. Just give me a ring through the radio and we'll set you up with your contact: Royal Navy 371._

_Stand by, old friend. Hold tight and we'll get you out of there. Just keep the men in the camp and don't let them escape unless you deem it too dangerous. Trust those secretaries of the Kommandant – Helga and Hilde – and let them help you. After all, those two were helping to build the tunnels in the first place. They also threw out the idea for the tunnels and hid their secret identities, changing their names and telling the Germans that they were not Jews, but "Aryan" women._

_Keep out of trouble and keep the secrets safe…General Milton._

Hogan talked with his men in his quarters and asked about them before thinking about any decisions, all the while thinking of General Milton overseas in England. _I have a friend there after all_, he thought. _He remembers how I saved his life and keep his companies of men safer than most except this last time._

Regret slowly filled his body, especially when remembering Douglas._ I know that he won't abandon me here. These men will serve faithfully, just as he said he would. I just hope that they follow my orders better than Douglas did and survive the war intact._

* * *

**I'm aware of the constructive reviews I had received for this story so long ago, so I hope this edit would make up for it. I also hope to reintroduce my stories to newer people and to start something new tonight, since a lot has changed since I started writing fan fiction and I feel more confident and better. So, all I ask for is a review. Please be kind and message me if anything is wrong. Thank you all for helping me initially!**


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